Not applicable.
This invention relates to syringe guide and vial holders, specifically to such syringe guide and vial holders that are intended for use with a hypodermic syringe and a medicine-containing vial.
This invention relates generally to devices for aiding in the self-use of syringes, and more particularly, to a guide for inserting a syringe needle into a medicine vial. When using a syringe to inject medicine, it is desirable to provide a guide or other device to facilitate filling the syringe with the desired medicine from the medicine vial. The guide helps align the syringe needle with the cap of the vial and provides a more stable connection between the syringe and the vial. While the use of syringe guide and vial holders has facilitated the use of syringes, especially by non-medically-trained people, the prior art syringe guide and vial holders have left many areas available for improvement. For example, many prior art syringe guide and vial holders fail to simplify the construction and use of syringe guide and vial holders (U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,972 to Tetreault (1993), U.S. Pat. No. 3,602,272 to Stawski (1971), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,766 to Montada (1984)). Some prior art syringe guide and vial holders require a vial to be seated in a trough or cylinder that precludes easy sterilization of the entire vial cover without removing the vial from the devices (U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,972 to Tetreault (1993), U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,870 to Maxwell (1999), U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,798 to Lindquist (1999), U.S. Pat. No. Des. 280,018 to Scott (1985), U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,766 to Montada (1984), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,454 to LaDow (1988)). Some prior art syringe guide and vial holders require a user to manipulate retaining bands to secure and release a vial and a syringe (U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,798 to Lindquist (1999)). This prior art overcomplicates the use of syringe guide and vial holders for many syringe users who only need a simple device to help steady the vial and the needle during the insertion process. In addition, the construction of some prior art syringe guide and vial holders has failed to allow precise positioning of a tip of a syringe needle into the reservoir of medicine in a vial (U.S. Pat. No. 3,602,272 to Stawski (1971) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,766 to Montada (1984)). To aid in fully extracting the last contents in the vial, the needle should be inserted into the vial no further than the neck of the vial so that when the vial is inverted, as is typically done when filling a syringe, the needle will be immersed in the medicine regardless of the amount of medicine remaining in the vial. The ability to precisely control the penetration depth is especially advantageous given today""s high cost of medicine and the consequent desire to avoid waste. While the depth of the needle can always be statically set (U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,972 to Tetreault (1993), U.S. Pat. No. Des. 280,018 to Scott (1985), U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,766 to Montada (1984), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,454 to LaDow (1988)), a syringe guide and vial holder that allows manual adjustment of the penetration depth is especially helpful. Some prior art syringe guide and vial holders are specifically designed to accept only currently mass-produced syringes (U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,870 to Maxwell (1999), U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,798 to Lindquist (1999), U.S. Pat. No. Des. 280,018 to Scott (1985), U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,766 to Montada (1984), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,454 to LaDow (1988)). Any future variation to the specifications of the mass-produced syringes could render the syringe guide and vial holders unusable. The attributes of the present invention avoid this type of obsolescence. Another area for improvement of syringe guide and vial holders relates to their ease of cleaning (U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,972 to Tetreault (1993) and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 280,018 to Scott (1985)). The repeated use of a syringe guide and vial holder for administering medicine can result in spills of the medicine on the syringe guide and vial holder. The spills are desirably washed off. Some prior art syringe guide and vial holders, however, are constructed with difficult-to-clean crevices and pockets in the syringe guide and vial holder (U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,870 to Maxwell (1999), U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,798 to Lindquist (1999), U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,766 to Montada (1984), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,454 to LaDow (1988)). This means that the syringe guide and vial holder must be carefully washed and that makes the use of the syringe guide and vial holder more burdensome than necessary. Prior art syringe guide and vial holders have the cap of the medicine vial obstructed from full digital access when in normal position of use (U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,972 to Tetreault (1993), U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,870 to Maxwell (1999), U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,798 to Lindquist (1999), U.S. Pat. No. Des. 280,018 to Scott (1985), U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,766 to Montada (1984), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,454 to LaDow (1988)). Yet common medical protocol is to wipe the cap thoroughly with a sterilizing material immediately before use. The attributes of the present invention allow full access to the vial cap for the purpose of sterilization. Prior art syringe guide and vial holders have also suffered from allowing the medicine vial to be easily dislodged or jarred out of alignment with respect to the guide. Poor retention of a medicine vial makes a syringe guide and vial holder difficult to use, and often necessitates a user having to separately hold the vial using both hands. When the vial must be separately held, the ease of inserting the syringe needle is diminished. The ease of use is increased by removing any closed apertures on the syringe guide and vial holder through which a syringe must be carefully threaded. Additional ease of use is provided by designing the syringe guide and vial holder such that a syringe is easily positioned upon it. A need can therefore be seen for a new syringe guide and vial holder that overcomes all of these disadvantages of the prior art and fully takes into account the foregoing design considerations.
In accordance with the present invention a syringe guide and vial holder comprises a holdable body, a cradling syringe support, and a grasping vial support.
Accordingly, beside the objects and advantages of the syringe guide and vial holder described in my above patent, several objects and advantages of the present invention are:
a) to provide a syringe guide and vial holder for use by a person with limited manual dexterity;
b) to provide a syringe guide and vial holder for use by a person inexperienced in extracting medicines with a syringe;
c) to provide a syringe guide and vial holder that can be held securely by a human hand;
d) to provide a syringe guide and vial holder that can be held comfortably by a human hand;
e) to provide a syringe guide and vial holder for the re-use of a medicine vial without removal of the vial from the syringe guide and vial holder;
f) to provide a syringe guide and vial holder for the extraction of the last vestiges of liquid from a vial;
g) to provide a syringe guide and vial holder capable of being stored in a transportable refrigerating device;
h) to provide a syringe guide and vial holder capable of being stored in a refrigerator;
i) to provide a syringe guide and vial holder with clear access to a cap of a vial, for the purpose of sterilization, without a need to remove the vial from the syringe guide and vial holder;
j) to provide a syringe guide and vial holder that can be placed on a generally flat, horizontal surface without fear of tipping or rolling;
k) To provide a syringe guide and vial holder that can be cleaned by hand or by a dish-washing machine.
Further objectives, features, and advantages of my syringe guide and vial holder will become apparent from a consideration of the drawings and the ensuing description of certain preferred embodiments.